Welcome to the FRD Center business blog. The FRD Center website is www.frdcenter.ro Email: europa@frdcenter.ro Tel: +4021 4111459 .... Are you looking for market expansion to Eastern Europe? To acquire a local player, to export, relocate, invest in emerging markets in Europe such as Romania, Poland etc.? What do you know about these markets? Are you looking for qualified local importer-distributors? Are you looking to consolidate your presence in the market, to manufacture and/or increase sales?

Monday, 3 July 2017

Expand your operations in Eastern Europe - Romania

Why should you choose Romania as a location for your operations? Is is advisable to acquire a company or make a greenfield investment in Romania?

Romania is the most dynamic large market in Europe, a strong democracy, a NATO and EU member. After a GDP growth of 4.8% in 2016, in Q1 2017 Romania registered the highest GDP rate in the EU: 5.6%. With unemployment average of 5.5%, the purchasing power of the Romanian population increased with 12% in 2016 and the consumption with 9%. In the first four months of 2017, Romanian industrial manufacturing went up 8.5% y-t-y.

The turnover of the Romanian automotive industry rose by 10% in 2016 to EUR 22 billion, reaching 13% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Some of the most recent foreign investments and crossborder mergers&acquisitions in Romania include:OMV Petrom, the largest oil and gas producer in Southeastern Europe, invested EUR 5m in a modern laboratory test center for fuel quality control at its Romanian refinery, Petrobrazi.

Mytaxi, the e-hailing app owned by German carmaker Daimler, has entered the Romanian market through the acquisition of the local company Clever Tech, the owner of the Clever Taxi app.

Austrian firm, EGGER, invested EUR 23.9m in a recycling installation at its plant in Radauti (NE Romania) and in the EGGER Timberpark platforms of collecting the recycled wood in Romania.

Coca-Cola HBC Romania, the biggest beverage producer on the local market, has invested EUR 7m in a new production line at its local plant in Timisoara (W Romania). The company had a turnover of EUR 495 million and a net profit of EUR 62 million in 2016, and over 1,400 employees, according to official data from the Finance Ministry.

Prysmian Group, Italian world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry, has opened the second fiber optic cable factory in Slatina, southern Romania. This investment, estimated at EUR 22m, is its biggest in Europe for this category.

Swedish group Autoliv, a world leader in the production of automotive safety systems, will open an engineering center in Iasi, NE Romania. According to the company, the engineers in Iasi will mainly be developing software for state of the art Active Safety products, as well as for Passive Safety systems. Autoliv Romania plans to have a team of over 200 employees in the Iasi center.

Kronospan, the Austrian wood-based panels manufacturer, inaugurated a fully automated EUR 10m melamination line at its factory in Sebes, central Romania. According to company sources, the Kronospan Sebes factory has the largest production capacity in the world.

Amazon, the largest online retailer in the world, wants to lease 10,000 sq m of offices in Bucharest, an area needed to recruit at least 1,000 employees, according to sources close to the company quoted by ‘Ziarul Financiar’. The need for expansion comes less than a year since the US company signed a lease for an area of 13,500 sq m in Iasi (NE Romania).

US company 3Pillar Global, which provides IT services, will open its third R&D center in Romania, in Iasi (NE Romania). The company already has R&D centers in Romania, in Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara. They expect the office in Iasi to grow exponentially in the coming years, as did the other two so far.

British American Tobacco (BAT), the biggest cigarette manufacturer in Romania, announces the tripling of investments in the Ploiesti plant in 2017 compared to the estimates announced last year. Thus, according to a press release, the company will invest around EUR 60 million in the construction of a new production hall, as well as plant’s upgrading.

Romania’s new Government discussed the project of the Sovereign Investment Fund, and will launch it into public debate in the following period. „This fund is an instrument for stimulating the economy. It will help raise local and international financing for profitable investment projects that will help develop the economy and increase budget revenues,” said the new economy minister Mihai Fifor.

Dutch aluminium producer, Prolyte Products, opens third factory in Romania. The company has used a EUR 3.4m loan from Romanian state-owned bank EximBank.

In 2016, Romania recorded one of the highest economic growths in the European Union, due to fiscal relaxation measures, which boosted the trade and transport sector by 11% compared to the previous year, according to the Garanti Bank report. The GDP growth was also boosted by the services sector, which rose by 6% in 2016, and in particular by the IT sector, which grew by 14% last year compared to 2015.

According to the European Commission, Romania will continue to be the most dynamic market in the region also in 2017 and 2018.

Since 2000, FRD Center offers market research and M&A consulting services to foreign buyers and investment funds interested to enter Romania and the emerging markets in Europe as investors or joint-ventures.

What Clients say about us

Fred van der Meer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands The FRD Center organized for my group of 16 companies, custom-made business meetings, all resulting in potential future business.

Rob Costongs, Marketing Manager at C&H Maastricht (The Nederlands)Jackie and her team at FRD organised the matchmaking during the trade mission of the Dutch government in Romania. We from C&H Maastricht were very satisfied with the number and quality of the companies that FRD had researched for us and met us during the trade mission.

Ender Bozkurt, Board Member @ Novatemed Innoceuticals A.S. & Private Investment Advisor (Turkey) The FRD Center team are very knowledgeable and experienced. They run a very well structured execution plan for the service they provide. Even though we were behind the schedule when consulted them, they put things together in a short time without any flaw and they followed-up until completion of the project. I would recommend FRD Center for your market entry endeavours and I ensure you that you will get results thanks to their professional manner and the high degree of quality service they provide.Yoav Rottenberg, Business Manager - Europe at Naton Medical Group (China)"Jackie and FRD Center helped our company with our business development in Romania. They provided us with valuable information regarding the key players in the market and were very successful in locating potential customers for us and arranging the meetings. They did all this in a very short period of time and for a very reasonable price. I highly recommend.”

Top qualities: Great Results, Good Value, On Time

David Butler, Country Manager, Hungary & Romania, Enterprise Ireland (Ireland)“I wish I knew 10 Jackies! Extremely hardworking, professional, resourceful and full of initiative, she's also very thoughtful and lots of fun to work with - I can't recommend her highly enough.”

Marianne Vandenbosch, EMBA Program Manager, IMD Lausanne (Switzerland)"FRD Center worked with the IMD Executive MBA program, helping us to develop and deliver our discovery expedition to Bucharest. Their in depth knowledge of Bucharest and of doing business in Bucharest was very helpful to us. The FRD Center team are very reliable and deliver what is promised. Working with them over a number of years, they were able to offer better service each time. FRD Center teamare very reliable and willing to go the extra mile to make sure everything works out as planned."

Lau Brüniche-Olsen, Business Development Consultant, Confederation of Danish Industry (Denmark)“I can give Jackie Bojor and the FRD Center my best recommendations. I have worked with Jackie and several occasions and have been most satisfied with her work and professionalism.”

Mike Stout, International Franchise Development Director, CKE Restaurants (USA)“Jackie and her team are very knowledgable of the Romanian market. Jackie went beyond expectations in arranging meetings with potential candidates for our franchise concept, including meeting with all candidates and pre-screening. Should we enter the Romanian market, we certainly plan to use Jackie and her team for consumer research and other areas that can benefit a successful launch of our brand."

Jonathan Taylor, Business Development Director, Hanson plc (UK)“I would recommend using Jackie for market entry work in Romania. Her team can produce good, quick results and is very friendly and accommodating.”

Philip Martin, Product Development Manager, Faessler AG (Switzerland)“It was a great pleasure to work together with Jackie and her team. We as a company were looking for a distributor in the Romanian market. Since we're active in a very specific market the task was not easy at all. But the dedication to our project from Jackie and her team was great and they identified our needs clearly and brought us the right results.”

Paul Thompson, International Trade Adviser, Chamber of Commerce Herefordshire & Worcestershire (UK)"I have known Jackie for several years and meet with her whenever I am in Bucharest. I have used the services of FRD Center on several occasions and have also referred companies and can, without question, confirm that any work has always been undertaken in a very friendly and professional manner. I have no doubts about recommending FRD Center".Michel Gagnon, President of Davier Consultants (Canada)“More and more Canadian companies are interested in Eastern Europe and see the potential of the region. We have been able over the last few years to assist our Clients in identifying and securing a relationship with reliable Romanian companies, either as a partner, licensee or franchisee, and all these projects were carried out in cooperation with our exclusive partner for the area, FRD Center"